A series of TurnBasedStrategy games based on the immensely popular ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise. ''G Generation'' (''G Gen'' for short) has its roots in the myriad SRPG titles made for the SuperFamicom in the early to mid-1990s. Most of these games played fast and loose with the rules, but ''G Gen'' marked the start of a more serious turn, bringing pilots into the equation and expanding the player's options vastly as time went on.

The games follows a very traditional SRPG gameplay set in place by FireEmblem and [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars the other robot-oriented strategy series]], but mixed with its own squad system. The squad system is based around a unit which leads a squadron of 4 mechs; so long as the other 3 mechs are within the squad leader's ''command aura'' (and starting from ''Zero'') they can gang up on a target using support-attacks (so long as their weapons are within range of the target) and can in turn support-defend on the enemy's turn. Also added since ''Zero'', pilots are given Bonus Step when they successfully kill an enemy, allowing them an additional turn. Although a unit can gain unlimited Bonus Steps in ''Zero'' and ''F'', ''Neo'' limited the amount of potential turns by a character's level, increasing every 10 levels. As a result, battles are often based on careful positioning to take advantage of bonus steps via exploiting the 4-mech support attacks to guarantee a kill for each squad member.

Other mechanics include "evolving" mechs from one unit to their next successor (example: GM -> GM-II -> GM-III, Shining Gundam -> God Gundam, etc). Depending on the game, some mechs have ''very'' long and complicated evolution trees, and one can "evolve" a lowly [[MobileSuitGundam GM]] all the way up to a [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Jamesgun]], representing nearly 75 years worth of in-universe development.

In general, ''G Gen'' games fall into one of two categories:* '''Historical''' games focus on re-creating the events of the ''Gundam'' animation, with the player controlling the heroes as well as a group of OriginalGeneration characters, and usually rewarding faithfulness to the source material with bonus ExperiencePoints or CG movies of the event in question. The Historical games tend to be released on consoles and focus on more realistic battles.* '''Crossover''' games put all the characters together into a common setting and unites them against an overarching threat, sometimes an OriginalGeneration villain and sometimes an established ''Gundam'' villain who lives longer and gets better toys than his animated counterpart. Crossover games tend to be released on handheld systems and feature squad-based battles, "magic" (in the form of ID Commands), and special attacks.

The ''G Gen'' F/mostly historic or non-merging series includes:* ''SD Gundam G Generation'' (1998, {{Playstation}}): The first full-fledged game in the series, covering the events from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' through ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'', with MS and characters from later series showing up as extras.* ''SD Gundam G Generation Zero'' (1999, Playstation): Covers all the Universal Century anime, with one bonus stage each for ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'', ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'', and ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]'', plus extra MS and characters from those universes.* ''SD Gundam G Generation-F'' (2000, Playstation): Covers all the anime up through ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]'', with '''many''' sidestories like ''Manga/GundamSentinel'', ''[[Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam Crossbone Gundam]]'', and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing G-Unit]]''; ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' gets a single bonus stage, plus extra characters and MS. In 2001, an expansion disc ''G Generation-F.I.F.'' was released, which included NintendoHard bonus scenarios and the ability to edit your team at will.* ''SD Gundam G Generation Neo'' (2002, {{Playstation 2}}): The first "combination" game, playing like a Historical game but using a Crossover plotline, which produced such popular CG event movies as [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Usso Evin]] versus the [[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Frost Brothers]], or the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Wing Team]] squaring off against [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Master Asia]]. Includes the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Strike and Aegis Gundams]] as bonus units.* ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: Generation of C.E.'' (2005, Playstation 2): Not technically a ''G Gen'' game, as it uses full-sized MS and focuses exclusively on the Cosmic Era universe, but because it uses the same engine as ''Neo'' it's considered part of the series.* ''SD Gundam G Generation Portable'' (2006, PlaystationPortable): Effectively a remake of ''F'' that eschews most of the manga and sidestory plotlines in favor of giving full scenarios to ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'', and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' (though said sidestory characters and MS are still in as extras).* ''SD Gundam G Generation Spirits'' (2007, Playstation 2): Focuses exclusively on the Universal Century, but goes into greater detail, adding more recent stories like ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamMSIGLOO Gundam IGLOO]]'' and ''Advance of Zeta''. Includes a rather surprising crossover character as the TrueFinalBoss.* ''SD Gundam G Generation Wars'' (2009, Playstation 2 and {{Wii}}): Uses the engine from ''Spirits'', but restores the Alternate Universes, including everything up through the first season of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' (with some MS from the second season as extras). Crossovers are used but does not affect canonical plotlines. From Now on, the F/Historical series are no longer completely historical and OriginalGeneration TrueFinalBoss -es come into play.* ''SD Gundam G Generation Touch'' (2010, [[IOSGames iOS]]): A gathering card-style social game.* ''SD Gundam G Generation World'' (2010, Playstation Portable and Wii): An improved ''Wars''-style "combination" game, using the engine of ''Spirits''/''Wars'' and an OriginalGeneration plotline (that unfolds in the form of several EX Missions that end each rank, plus three final stages), as well as adding in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]] Second Season'', ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]'', and as a bonus the 00 Qan[T] from ''Anime/Gundam00AWakeningOfTheTrailblazer''.* ''SD Gundam G Generation 3D'' (2011, Nintendo 3DS): A ''World''-overhaul, adding to the game ''MobileSuitGundamAGE'' and ''Anime/ModelSuitGunplaBuildersBeginningG''.* ''SD Gundam G Generation Overworld'' (2012, Playstation Portable): The latest G Gen game. Including the most number of series to-date, it brings back G-Unit, introducing the Manga/Gundam00Sidestories, along with Gundam Unicorn (up to Episode 5) and Gundam AGE (up to the beginning of the 2nd generation arc).* ''SD Gundam G Generation Frontier'' (2013, [[IOSGames iOS]]): A ''Touch''-overhaul, although the roster is based off of Overworld's.

And the "G Gen Gather Beat"/"Mono Eye" CanonMerging series are:* ''SD Gundam G Generation Gather Beat'' (2000, UsefulNotes/{{Wonderswan}}): The first Crossover game, introducing the familiar elements (three-unit squads, ID Commands, convincing enemies, etc).* ''SD Gundam G Generation Gather Beat 2'' (2001, Wonderswan Color)* ''SD Gundam G Generation Mono-Eye Gundams'' (2002, Wonderswan Color): The first Crossover game with its own OriginalGeneration characters and plotline, and subsequently one of the more popular ''G Gen'' games. The [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Strike Gundam]] is included as a bonus.* ''SD Gundam G Generation Advance'' (2003, GameboyAdvance): Effectively an UpdatedRerelease of ''Gather Beat'', ''Advance'' adds in characters and MS from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' and makes it the star of the show. Unfortunately, not much else was changed from the original release so it's slightly unpopular.* ''SD Gundam G Generation SEED'' (2004, Playstation 2): A game that uses the same system as ''Neo'' but focuses on ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' and ''[[Manga/MobileSuitGundamSeedAstray Gundam SEED Astray]]'', with the other universes as extras. not much else was changed from the original release so it's slightly unpopular.* ''SD Gundam G Generation DS'' (2005, NintendoDS): In a sense an UpdatedRerelease of ''Mono-Eye Gundams'', despite the fact that it has new original characters and story elements. Includes characters and MS from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' as a bonus.* ''SD Gundam G Generation Cross Drive'' (2007, Nintendo DS): A new effort at merging canons, employing new control systems and characters from other than the Mono-Eye canon. Does not recieve very positive reviews.

Compare ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', which uses the same general concept as the Crossover games, but includes more than just Gundam.

!!''SD Gundam G Generation'' provides examples of:

* AceCustom: In the Historical games, Ace Customs are created by putting a character into the basic version of an MS of which they have a custom model (for example, putting Char in an F-Type Zaku II turns it into his personal S-Type). This is the only way to obtain these units without cheating.** Overworld allows you to produce data on them so anyone can use them mainly by combining mechs (a mech matching the Ace's customizations and the original mech)* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: [[ShrinkingViolet Dee Triel]] was feared by faceless RedShirt because of her ability. She get along with the hero group pretty well though.* AmbidextrousSprite: Used in all games except for the three that use the NEO engine.** It's subverted in Wars and all the games using its engine.* ArtEvolution: Many original characters went through this trope. The first big one is in ''Zero'', since character portrait in the first game is very small and none of the original character has cut-in, you can say that it's ''Zero'' that established their design. The second time is in ''Spirits'', notable example is Maria Owens, who was around since the first game, but only become popular among fandom with younger and cuter design in ''Spirits'' (most visible change is the new design's lack of lipstick).* TheAllegedCar/BoringButPractical: ''Carry Base'', the ''Clop''-class training crusier issued to players in the F series. It is a lot weaker than real ''Clop''-class cruisers in ''Chars Counter Attack'' levels, but almost fits all sorts of missions..* AscendedExtra: Some of the Crossover games take canon villains and beef them up into the BigBad who threatens the Gundamverse. ''DS'' does this to Gihren Zabi (no mean shakes, considering what [[MagnificentBastard he]] [[ThoseWackyNazis is]] in canon) along with Paptimus Scirocco (again, [[TheStarscream no mean shakes]], but he ursurps power from Jamitov and Bask very early and lead the Titans for the large bulk of the game), but the a better example would probably be ''08th MS Team'' villain Ginias Sahalin, who is the BigBad of a couple of games despite being little more than a MadScientist who's literally off his meds in his home series.** On the hero side there's Kukuruz Doan, the AntiVillain from First Gundam's LostEpisode; in ''Advance'', he gets his own [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]-style SuperMode, complete with his Zaku II [[PowerGlows turning gold]].** The "G Gen army" from F series are extras because they does not change the outcome of historical battles, but you command them.* AscendedMeme: Well what do you know, the Big Zam ''WAS'' [[http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/gg/ma-09.htm mass produced]]!** Any of the instances featured in TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything trope, especially involving ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]''.* AttackItsWeakPoint: Battleships take damage from attacks on any grid square they occupy, but Pinpoint Attacks that target a designated square (the bridge or other vital point) do much more damage.* BootstrappedTheme: The BGM that ''G Generation'' creates for non-animated series such as ''Hathaway's Flash'' and ''Crossbone Gundam'' usually wind up becoming their themes in all ''Gundam''-related games.* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Sera in ''Mono-Eyes'']]** Any accesories that is labeled as "personality changing" in F series. try putting them on your units and see your characters become either depressed or hyped.* BreakTheCutie: Not that big of a surprise for many but in G Generation DS... Well, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RKXaAVwCcg see this cute, kind, happy and strong-willed girl here?]] That's [[BrokenBird Haman]]. [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam THAT]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ HAMAN]].** "Personality changing" chips for everyone! Nuff said.* BridgeBunny: You can assign operator to battleship. How good the character perform as operator is depend on his/her "communication" secondary stats. In addition to the BridgeBunny from other series, Ra Mira Luna, Ricole Chuart and Pamela Smith - the MissionControl characters from ''Zero'', ''F'' and ''Neo'' - will embrace this trope whenever they are recuitable.** World and Overworld has certain stats match the bridge position and characters who mainly fit this role has said stat as their only good one.* CallingYourAttacks: See under TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything; just about every major character gets at least one special attack quote. Hell, even [[TheStoic Trowa Barton]] gets one for the Shining Finger.* CharClone: Pretty much all of [[CharClone Char Clones]] were here. Overworld gave us the G-Gen Original CharClone by the name of Code Phoenix, pilot of the crimson Master Phoenix, [[SuperPrototype grand-daddy of the Phoenix Gundam]].* CharacterDevelopment: The standard group of original characters came into existence as little more than seat-fillers. Later games started giving them more distinct personalities and roles in relation to one another; for example, Mark Gilder, the most common pilot of the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Phoenix Gundam]], seems to be becoming TheHero amongst the ''G Gen'' originals.* CharacterExaggeration: Especially in crossover titles.* CloningBlues: In ''DS'', [[spoiler:Dee is one of the many [[MeaningfulName Legion]] clone pilots made by Gihren Zabi to operate his Centurio MS; she's simply the one who was rescued and started establishing an individual identity.]]* ContinuityDrift - Trans-Am 00 Raiser suffers this in its animations on ''World''. Most of the times when someone attacks it, the animation played is that of him entering in quantization, however the enemy STILL hits him as if he stood still there.** Also, for whenever he executes the actual Quantization trick to evade enemy beam shots, he always appears with the GN Sword III, even when he's supposed to be equipped with the pair of GN Sword II.** This is part of a trend of the unit evading (in sometimes a flashy way) only to get hit.* CuttingOffTheBranches: ''Generation of C.E.'' Famously, upon the game's release, the staff claimed that one of the endings was the originally intended ending for the ''Destiny'' TV series, but refused to elaborate, leading most fans to [[WildMassGuessing assume]] that it was "The Awakened Sword", in which Shinn defeats Kira and co. and Durandal [[TakeOverTheWorld takes over the world]].* DemotedToExtra: Because the games obviously can't include everything, something inevitably has to be removed in the end. ''Generation of C.E.'' is an interesting example; it was released around episode 39 of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'', and so only covers the MS up to Strike Freedom, meaning Infinite Justice, the Akatsuki, and DOM Trooper aren't included. For that matter, neither is the Legend Gundam, despite the fact that it ''did'' appear before S-Freedom.* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: In later installments like ''Wars'' and ''World'', any character can be put into any MS. As a result, the characters get a truly staggering number of vocalized lines that they wouldn't normally say, like [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8apWreQU9s this video]], which shows all the different characters who get special attack quotes with Nu Gundam's Fin Funnels.** [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome God!]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny GRAHAM]] '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GRp-T-M_jQ FINGER!]]'''* DiscOneNuke: In nearly all the games, proper planning and LevelGrinding can allow you to obtain outrageously powerful units like Anime/TurnAGundam and Hi-Nu Gundam very, very early. Especially in Wars and World, due to the Master system, which allows you to start with a gimped version of a main character unit, which, with a few levels, can be easily turned into a proper version of the same unit (or even a powered-up version, in the case of Turn-A). And from Spirits on, you can very easily get the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Phoenix Gundam]] in less than an hour of gameplay.** In ''Portable'', there's the Gigantic and the Windam Nuclear Striker, which literally equip nuclear weapons and are accessable within the first 2-5 hours of playing.** The new feature, Over Impact in ''Over World'' allows you get the chance to capture at least one of your former allied mobile suits. 9 times out of 10, it's a Gundam-type MS. So you can get some good Gundams very early in the game. (In the first 3 of the A-block missions alone, you can get the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Strike]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory GP-01]], and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Impulse]] Gundams.* DoomedByCanon: The key criticism for Crossdrive is this, as most plots and character deaths play out the way they do in the anime(with the exception of the 0080 plot) with no way of averting them. ** In order to set up the Amuro-Char rivalry, there has been no way of saving Lalah Sune in the crossover games.* EarlyBirdCameo: Typically a new series will have few key MS in ''G Gen'' before it makes its full debut in the next game (see: Strike and Aegis in ''Neo'', 00-Raiser in ''Wars''). A special case of this occurs in ''Mono-Eye Gundams'', where you can actually obtain an early design version of the Aile Strike Gundam (but see GuideDangIt for more details}.* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''G Gen Zero'' makes some AU characters such as George de Sand and Quatre Winner into Newtypes, presumably to explain things like the former's use of {{Attack Drone}}s and the latter's [[TheEmpath "Space Heart"]].* {{Expy}}: It's hard ''not'' to see Dee Trier of ''DS'' as [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Rei Ayanami]]'s long-lost sister.** Code Amelias, the main villain from ''Overworld'' looks a lot like Werbellia the Swamp Witch from ''QueensBlade Rebellion'', up to sharing the same [[Creator/JunkoMinagawa voice actress]] and similar backgrounds.* EvilCounterpart: One of the ''G Gen'' originals is the Zanspine, effectively Zanscare's answer to the [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory 2 Gundam]], complete with three crimson Wings of Light.* EvilerThanThou: The original Devil Gundam Jr., a spawn of [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Devil Gundam]] that goes so high in EvolutionaryLevels that it live on after the destruction of Devil Gundam. Devil Gundam maybe an OmnicidalManiac, but that's because its program was corrupted. Devil Gundam Jr. is outright malice, it want to enslave humanity and dominate the world.* ExtraTurn: The Bonus Step mechanic, which allows characters to take an extra action after shooting down an enemy. Certain skills and parts can increase the number of this this can activate in one turn.* FaceHeelTurn: Obviously this occurs in Historical games, but in some of the Crossover games you can lose the use of characters like Char and Shinn if you don't take the right steps to keep them on your side.** The Over Impact feature Overworld allows you to, if you so choose, to turn all NPC allies currently on the map against you. * FightingClown: Haro, Psycolo Gundam and Psyco Haro have comical look, they're alway among the best units.* FixFic: The crossover games allow you to save much of the sympathetic characters whom died in canon such as Bernie Wiseman, the Purus and Four Murasame and some routes even allow you to save characters that SRW has yet to allow you to recruit such as [[spoiler: Cima Garahau and both the Druggie and Extended Trios(of which Stella is the only recrutiable in SRWs)]]. Averted with CrossDrive as all the plots play out the way they did in anime with [[DoomedByCanon no way to avert them]]. * GuideDangIt: In ''Mono-Eye Gundams'', you can find the Strike Gundam if '''and only if''' you move one specific MS onto one specific square of one specific map in one specific battle.* HeelFaceTurn: ''G Gen'' lets you recruit characters that even ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' has never let you use, like Cima Garahau, the [[FanNickname Druggies and all 3 Extended]] from ''SEED'' and ''Destiny''.** It could be argued Cima is the main character of ''DS''.* HeroesUnlimited: Most character can pilot a mobile suit and fight, even ones like ActualPacifist [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Relena]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK-9S0PXjBU Peacecraft]]. That being said, ''Wars'' introduced limitations to character roles and you can't see Dr. J kicking ass in a mobile suit or commanding spaceships anymore.** ''World'' and ''Overworld'' allow you to do this, though this doesn't mean said character would be any good.* HeroicSacrifice: In ''Advance'', Mu la Flaga will sacrifice himself to kill Rau le Creuset (as per the manga adaptation of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Gundam SEED]]'' if you don't take the proper steps. Note, this also costs you the Freedom Gundam, since Rau is piloting it in his final battle.* IAmLegion: Crosses with MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:In ''DS'', the clone pilots are actually named Legion; this includes TheRival Norma Legio and protagonist Dee Trier.]]* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Phoenix Gundam, which is generally considered to be on par with the Turn A and Turn X, and is effectively an AllYourPowersCombined Gundam with weapons and abilities cribbed from every universe. It gets toned down in recent games since it can be obtained early, but it's still a good unit.** Later games have a "True Power" version that's even stronger, and while a good unit, it doesn't compare against the absolute best of the Gundam universe.** ''World'' Introduces the Halpas Gundam, which is related to it and is basically a superior version of it, though in that game and ''Overworld'', you can't make one of your own until you beat the game.* ItemCrafting: Both formats of games allow you to make mobile suits in different ways. Console games let you combine two machines together to produce a new one, typically with a degree of logic behind the combo[[note]]Combining the Rick Dias and Gundam Mk-II produces the Zeta Gundam, which is exactly how Kamille described the design when he first created it[[/note]]. Handheld games let you combine items with MS to make new ones, and they can also be scrapped for parts.* LethalJokeCharacter: Original character Ivan Ivanov has this running. He start with exactly '''1''' point in every pilot stat except for awakening, which governs damage done by attacks that use MP, such as funnel/bit attacks, and finishing moves. Said awakening stat will increase at an astonishing rate when leveling up and boost his other stats. Give him a unit with MP-consuming attacks, and he can be useful. After a bit of level grinding, the bonus will make up for him being bad pilot. Afterward, he will start kicking ass.* LimitedMoveArsenal: In early games, each machine is limited to four moves. The portable games sometimes change things up slightly by having MAP Weapons be on a completely separate list, although they never go over six. This is followed by ''Spirits'' which upped the number to six, but still reserve last two slots for MAP only. It's ''Wars'' that finally feature units with more than four regular moves.* LoveDodecahedron: ''Mono-Eye Gundams'' is driven by one: Sieg loves Sera, who loves him back. Ein has a [[StalkerWithACrush psycho crush]] on Sera, and undergoes a FaceHeelTurn so he can kidnap and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwash]] her. Mian, TheCaptain's daughter, has a PrecociousCrush on Sieg, which upgrades in the seven-year gap between the One Year War and the Gryps Conflict.* LoveRedeems: In the CCA bonus missions for DS, one can convince Char to not drop Axis and rejoin the team by having [[spoiler: Haman Karn]](provided you recruited her) convince Char when his Sazabi's hp is lowered significantly. It helps they are presented as having more of a relationship over an one-sided attraction in contrast to the anime.* MagikarpPower: One of the original charcters, Eterna Frail, start with abysmal stats in ''G Generation F'' (her debut title). But keep level grind with her (or just take advantage of her high charm by assign her as the ship's guest) and suddenly, her shooting jump from 12 to 48 (and it can still go up to 50) which is higher than most characters.** The crossover games are pretty much made of this trope. Invest enough time in LevelGrinding any character or MS, and they '''will''' be able to completely murder most enemies you encounter.* ManaBurn: The MAP Attack version of the Turn-A and Turn-X Gundams' Moonlight Butterfly drains the EN of all units within its area of effect to zero.* MerchandiseDriven: ''G Generation F'' used Card Codes to let you unlock new MS and ships. How do you get Card Codes? Why, they're included in every ''G Generation'' model kit and CollectibleCardGame pack, of course!** ''3D'' tried to do something similar with the system's AR scanner; how well that worked isn't known.* MidSeasonUpgrade: Both formats allow you to upgrade your mecha in a number of different ways. Historical games let you turn a sufficiently [[CharacterLevel leveled]] MS into a related one[[labelnote:Example]]Like Wing Gundam into Wing Zero[[/labelnote]], or combine the plans for two different MS to produce a new one[[labelnote:Example]]Rick Dias plus Gundam Mark II equals Zeta Gundam, as per the anime.[[/labelnote]]. Crossover games use a system akin to ItemCrafting, where you apply a special parts to an MS to change it[[labelnote:Example]]RX-78 Gundam plus Magnetic Coating equals Gundam Alex[[/labelnote]], and you can subsequently scrap an MS to break it down into parts.* MindControlEyes: Sera in ''Mono-Eye Gundams'' and [[spoiler:Dee Trier]] in ''DS''.* MirrorMatch: [[spoiler:Stage Final-02 in ''World'' features eight Neuro Copies, which take the form of units you have onboard your battleship. If you're very unlucky, you will fight eight copies of the [[LightningBruiser 00-Qan[T], Crossbone X1 Full-Cloth,]] Balbados or Turn-A (Black History ver) you've brought along.]]** You can use it as your advantage though, [[spoiler:by using only a few strong unit while the rest are piloting Mook units. And these copies have fixed stats while yours can *usually* outperform them......Unless you're playing in Hell world.]]** Activiating Core Impact from the World Core stages in ''Over World'' will also create copies from your unit, ''literally''. (That is, all stats of the copies will be the same as your original units being copied) Pray none of your best units' clones end up by your motherships.** Being hit by those ELS during the EX stage of D route in ''Over World'' will result in your unit being copied, though it's a bit forgiving since they retain their original stats as ELS.* MookPromotion: Happens on occasion; for example, ''Advance'' takes Alex and Muller, a pair of asshole pilots from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'' who only lasted one episode before getting [[KarmicDeath karmic justice]] at Zechs' hands, and turns them into recurring antagonists, even giving them [[BashBrothers Mercurius and Vayeate]].* MultipleEndings: 'Mono-Eye Gundams'' has three endings: [[spoiler:One where Mian [[DeathOfTheHypotenuse sacrifices herself]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy to save Sera]], one where Sera [[DyingAsYourself kills herself in a moment of clarity]], and the GoldenEnding where [[EverybodyLives you save Sera without anyone dying]].]]* {{Munchkin}}: Ein in ''Mono-Eye Gundams'' uses System Fafnir, which enhances his Newtype abilities to the point where nobody, be it Amuro Ray, Kamille Bidan, Domon Kasshu, Heero Yuy, or anyone else can lay a finger on him. Battles against Ein become an exercise in frustration until Sieg figures out how to counter it.* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: If you fail to convince Athrun in ''Advance'', he realizes that he's been helping the bad guys all along and [[RedemptionEqualsDeath pulls a suicide run against Dozle Zabi]].* {{Nerf}}:** The Bonus Step mechanic. In ''Zero'' and ''F'', one unit can has unlimit Bonus Step as long as it can kill something. Meaning that one unit with really high attack power can keep on killing as long as there is an enemy nearby, and it still has enough EN. And if the unit also has high movement and long range weapon, it may even wipe whole map clean in single turn. Since ''Neo'', the Bonus Step is limited by the character's level.** In ''Zero'', all of Mobile Fighter's attack doesn't cost EN. Combine that with unlimit Bonus Step above, you shouldn't be surprise that they use EN like regular unit since ''F''.* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Averted in ''DS'', which has a Villain Route where you take control of the Titans, OZ, and OMNI Enforcer among others. And you unlock it by [[spoiler:following the original ''Gundam'' novel and killing Amuro Ray at A Baoa Qu.]] It's double subversion as [[spoiler: most of this force does a HeelFaceTurn against their leaders and if you have the right character, you can cause the three that didn't ([[FanNickname The Druggies]]) to do so and end up being able to work well in the same squad. And the leader? Cima.]] This doesn't begin to describe the surprising changes in it.* OhCrap: ''DS'', [[TwoWordsObviousTrope four words]]: [[spoiler:[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Muruta Azrael]], [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Devil Gundam]].]]** ''World'' or ''Overworld'' if you get do a bonus objective in one of the last stages, you get [[spoiler: to fight the Black History Turn A as an extra enemy]]* OriginalGeneration: Handled a bit differently. Historical games have a pool of established original characters who make up the bulk of the player's forces (since famous characters like Amuro and Char can only be rented for one stage at a time[[note]]Since ''Wars'', however, you can outright buy canon characters, though they cost more than any originals in the character shop.[[/note]]). There are also a number of original MS, which will [[CanonImmigrant filter back into the mainstream]] once in a blue moon. Crossover games tend to stick more closely to the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' model, though occasionally canon villains like Gihren Zabi will be the BigBad, just with better toys and longer life expectancy.** ''Wars'' also play with this. The thing doesn't get mentioned until EX missions, which are unlocked after you have clear ''at least'' third of the game. And you actually see it only for last two missions, yet it turn out that the [[spoiler:Generation System]] is one that control every events in this game.** ''Over World'' actually invokes this trope by the presence of World Core stages, explaining the Original Characters trying to hack into the [[spoiler:Generation System]].* RecursiveCanon: ''G Gen'' uses this rather strangely, claiming that ''The08thMSTeam'' was turned into a TV series in the UC 0090s (with input from Michel) and the space-use variants of Shiro's Gundam Ez8 exist because the writers [[GeckoEnding extended the fictional story beyond what happened in the real world]].* {{Retcon}}: The Phoenix Gundam was always described as coming from beyond the solar system, and can be combined with literally anything in the games' ItemCrafting system. ''World'' explains both of these aspects by saying that the Phoenix contains [[Anime/Gundam00AWakeningOfTheTrailblazer ELS cells]] with data on every MS ever made.* RoboSpeak: When Dee talking near the end of ''DS'', her dialogue appear in all katakana (a usual way to utilize this trope). She only "speak" naturally via newtype power.* SerialEscalation: Some of the games, particularly ''F'' and ''World'', include a truly staggering number of series, characters, and mecha. ''F'' in particular claimed to have over 1,000 playable machines, though in truth Bandai did cheat a little[[note]]They counted TransformingMecha like the Zeta Gundam as two different units.[[/note]].* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: In ''DS'', [[spoiler:the entire ''Turn A'' cast travels back in time in the hopes of preventing the Dark History...except for Gym and his cronies, who want to set it off even earlier.]]** TimelineAlteringMacGuffin: Because of this, [[spoiler:Gihren Zabi gets his hands on future technology, which lets him produce the Centurio series of MS, essentially Mass Production Turns, complete with Moonlight Butterfly Funnels.]]* ShoutOutThemeNaming: ''Mono-Eye Gundams'' has a few nods to ''Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen'': protagonist Siegfried Wagner, based out of the battleship ''Walkure'', fighting a rival whose MS is equipped with "System Fafnir".* SuperPrototype[=/=]UnseenPrototype: A lot of the ''G Gen'' originals are prototypes that were rejected or never built, like the Gundam Aquarius, Epyon's [[MechaMooks Mobile Doll]]-busting brother.** ''Mono-Eye Gundams'' revolves around a trio of Zeon prototype Gundams that were never built until the designs fell into Titan hands.* ATasteOfPower: The opening stage of ''World'' starts you out with the entire [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Celestial Being team circa Second Season]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Unicorn Gundam NT-D mode]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice]], and pits you against Mr. Bushido, Ali-Al Saachez and Full Frontal.** To a lesser degree, the opening stage of overworld pits The 00 Quant, Unicorn, Nu Gundam, God Gundam and Gundam AGE-1 against some ELS. [[spoiler: Then the overimpact turns the last three against you; good thing you only need to take out one to end the stage]]* TheThemeParkVersion: Crossover games will typically pare each series down to its barest elements, but the Alternate Universes get it worse. For example, ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'' is usually nothing more than Heero, Relena, Zechs, Noin, and the relevant MS; ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]'' likewise gets stripped down to Garrod, Tiffa, the Frosts, and their Gundams.* TokenMiniMoe: Kachua Reis is clearly the youngest among original character. She was a little girl in ''F'' and look like preteen in ''World''.* TrueFinalBoss: The more recent games have included NintendoHard extra bosses you fight at the very end; in ''Spirits'', [[spoiler: it's the full-powered version of the Turn A Gundam]] - which is considered to be one of '''the''' most powerful HumongousMecha ever.** ''Wars'' introduces [[spoiler: the O Gundam, a stupid-powerful version of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 0 Gundam]]]],complete with an AI that sounds remarkably like [[spoiler: Ribbons[[note]]''00 Second Season'' had just ended but wasn't included in ''Wars'', so this was as close as they could get to recreating its final battle.[[/note]]]].** ''World'' introduces the Barbatos, a peacockish mobile suit (despite its MS mode face, is not counted as a Gundam) with stats roughly equal to [[spoiler: Black History Turn A, or Spirits' Truefinalboss]] Its first act in the 2nd final stage? [[spoiler: Curb stomping Aprodia's Hapalas gundam]]** ''3DS'' features [[spoiler: Ribbons again as the final boss, beginning with an overpowered version of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Reborns Gundam]], and then the ELS unit called "Nemesis R.A." who attacks with a [[BeamSpam massive]] [[ZergRush spawn]] of [[AttackDrone GN Fangs and Funnels]]]].** MarathonBoss: [[spoiler:The O Gundam in ''Wars'' is just the last part of a 28 Phase fight against the Generation System's security program, which has the player fight against 27 main character Gundam units in chronological order, starting with Amuro Ray's [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Gundam]] and ending with Setsuna's [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam Exia]].]]* UltimateUniverse: The historical games tend to mash several episodes into single mission.* UpToEleven: The Great Zeong introduced in ''Spirits''[[note]]supposedly based on Tomino's original plan for the design[[/note]]; while the original could [[DetachmentCombat launch its hands]], this one can split into seven separate pieces. For extra fun, some of the parts are modeled on Zeon mobile armors: the chest resembles the Apsaras III, the waist looks like the Big Zam, and the legs are vaguely Bigro-like.* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: In ''Advance'', you face off against the Gromlin Fossil, a Zeon mobile armor equipped with DG Cells that lets it constantly regenerate. After Dr. Kasshu tells you how to stop the Cells, the next character to attack the Gromlin (regardless of who it is) delivers a speech before hitting it so hard it completely shuts down the DG Cells and gives you a fair fight.** This happens in ''World'' near the end of the first final stage as [[spoiler: Aprodia gives one that ends up maxing up everyone's tension meters. Depending on how strong your units are, it might even things out or turn it into a completely onesided affair]]* YouCantFightFate: In ''Wars'' EX Mission 1, [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Aguile Delaz]] try to destroy the [[spoiler: Generation System]] with ColonyDrop. He realized as Cima about to shoot him, just like in the series, that even his act is under control of [[spoiler: Generation System]].

And many other tropes associated with the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' metaseries.----